Roots Singer-Songwriter Billy Woodward Touches On Resilience With Latest Single ‘Heartworn Hopeless Highway’

“Heartworn Hopeless Highway”, the newest release from Americana artist Billy Woodward, is a roots-driven folk tune centered around themes of maintaining hope and summoning perseverance.

Released this past Friday, April 22, “Heartworn Hopeless Highway” is an intriguing preview of what’s to come on Woodward’s upcoming LP, The Boy From The Bay. 

Woodward, who hails from the shores of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay and is now based in Brooklyn, New York, has turned to his art as a solace during the darker times of his life, creating beauty from the pain he’s experienced. The new single he says is, “My way of sorting how I felt walking and talking as if things [were] okay when, in fact, they were anything but.” He also adds, “‘Heartworn Hopeless Highway’ is ultimately about the hope of redemption in the face of tragedy and the honesty it takes to achieve it.”

Lyrically, “Heartworn Hopeless Highway” serves as an honest reflection of the human condition, and the daily struggle to choose strength amidst hardship. And despite its more contemplative and melancholic instrumentation, the song is inevitably about one thing: resilience. “Somehow I kept singing, as them stars came tumbling down / Digging up dirt from my cold cold ground,” Woodward sings.

His debut EP, The Beast In Me, which was recorded at the famed Sun Studios in Memphis, earned Woodward much acclaim, including an award for Best Roots EP at the 13th Annual IMA’s. It was also featured in the PBS series, Sun Sessions.

Following this release was his move to New York, where Woodward was dealing with personal struggles, including the sudden passing of his mother, which further inspired his artistry. He finally received the opportunity to return to the studio in 2020, resulting in The Boy From The Bay, an 11-song collection straight from the heart, including “Heartworn Hopeless Highway”.

Woodward’s full-length album is set to release this summer.